Shaun of the Dead (2004)

OK, I had another reason that I didn't previously specify for watching Dawn of the Dead: to prepare myself for this. On that score, however, I needn't have bothered. SotD makes no specific reference to DotD beyond the title. I'm not sure it directly parodies anything in particular.

From the beginning, thirty-something Shaun (Simon Pegg) has not led a good life. He has a dead-end job; acquaintances keep urging him to do something about his irresponsible best bud, Ed (Nick Frost); he can hardly bring himself to care for mother Barbara (Penelope Wilton), because it means interacting with harsh stepfather Philip (Bill Nighy); and his relationship with girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield) is on the rocks. Preoccupied with his own troubles, he pays little attention to the many signs that London in general has much bigger problems. (In fairness, the first bunch aren't exactly bloody messes.) When Shaun and Ed finally catch on, they plan to rescue everyone they care about and hole up in...a pub. Not much of a fortress, but nobody in the party has a better idea. Besides, the rifle on the wall might still be functional, and there aren't a whole lot of guns in modern England....

Unlike in DotD, these characters do have a prior concept of zombies and, indeed, use that word a few times. But Shaun says not to, simply because he thinks it's silly, without offering an alternative. That and the mostly mindless ghouls' retention of a couple signs of personality reminded me of Gravediggers; perhaps the author took inspiration from it.

Also unlike in DotD (the remake, anyway), the zombies shamble -- even more slowly and intermittently than in other sources I know. They also go down easily with one swing of a cricket bat by an unathletic man and are not all that hard to dodge or deceive. If this weren't part comedy, I'd wonder how they managed to bite so many people. Their relative pushover status would explain why the living, not least Ed, frequently don't take the threat seriously enough.

Alas, confidence gets the better of the heroes. Most characters near and dear to Shaun die, and their deaths, for the most part, are not played for laughs. It's a good thing I'd already watched Hot Fuzz, the next entry in the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy directed by Edgar Wright, and thus was prepared for a story more tragic and horrific than a typical American comedy.

In fact, I find it a little more tragic than DotD, because we get to know the characters better. And while they can be jerks, they're not on the same tier. When they disagree on what to do, they don't turn outlandishly hostile.

I suppose it's marginally less violent than DotD. Certainly there's less gunfire, with more realistically poor aim. There might be just as much swearing, but any lewdness is restricted to language, not content.

Is it nonetheless funny? Now and then. You don't need a very British sense of humor to get the jokes. You just need to be more into the slacker/bromance scene than I am to like them consistently. I will say that the ending is about as happy as they come in zombie movies.

I can see how SotD helped establish Frost and especially Pegg as international stars. I simply prefer Hot Fuzz, and I don't think I'll take a chance on The World's End, especially now.